Antique & Heirloom Plants

What are they?

Antique and heirloom plants are similar to the cut-glass bowl or crazy quilt that we call antiques and hand down from generation to generation. They are old-fashioned things that have proven themselves valuable over time. The old garden roses, heirloom vegetables, old-fashioned flowers, and traditional herbs, shrubs and trees we grow today are the plants of yesterday that had the best genetic “stuff” to keep them going in spite of bad weather, bad soil, and bad gardeners.

Some of these old plants started out as hybrids that were the “newest” rage in 1796. But through the years, they adapted to new conditions, developed new strengths, kept their best characteristics and lost their weakest. Others are native plants that have been brought into the garden and claimed as ornamental gems.

Many new hybrids are marketed as improvements on the older varieties. Bluer larkspur, taller lavender, new colors of salvia — all nursery breeding programs are built on the foundation of good old varieties. And many of the new varieties are wonderful. But it is also important to enjoy and keep the old timers going.

Styles in gardening, as in clothing and everything else, come and go. Not so long ago, most gardeners wanted order and precision, sharp lines and neat borders. Today, gardeners are more interested in a natural style. We want plants that are well-adapted, require little care, and do well without a lot of intensive management from us. We don’t want to have to spray them all the time, prune them every week, baby them along. As a result, antique and heirloom plants are enjoying renewed interest.

By their very nature, antiques and heirlooms are sturdy. They would not have lasted all these years if they required intensive care. Many antique roses were found growing at abandoned farm houses or in cemeteries, blooming happily without benefit of gardener. Traditional plants and seeds were brought from the “old country” by settlers and have been passed down through the generations, adapting to new conditions and gaining strength as they go. The ones that are still going are the best of the best.

Like native plants, heirlooms are site specific. That means that an antique that does well in Nova Scotia will probably not do well in Texas. Just because a variety is old doesn’t mean it will do well in your garden. You need to find the antique that is happy in your spot.

Luckily, one of the other good characteristics of antique and heirloom plants is that they are easy to share. Divisions, seeds, cuttings are all readily viable, so getting the best plants for your area is sometimes just a matter of borrowing from your neighbors. Some old plants are hard to propagate, but the majority are not, and many multiply like crazy to the point that you run out of friends to share them with.

Heirlooms can be annuals, perennials, trees, shrubs, bulbs, flowers, fruit, vegetables, or any other form of plant imaginable. Much interest has been devoted to roses and vegetables, but other heirlooms are worthy of growing and propagating. Most vegetables are annuals so we must be more vigilant in keeping them going, but perennials need our attention and protection as well.

In addition to the age of the plant, most antiques and heirlooms have characteristics that make them desirable. Old vegetables are wonderfully tasty, flowers are fragrant, colors are subtle and lovely. After years of hybridization to achieve new, dramatic colors, gardeners noticed that new hybrid sweet peas have no scent — the very characteristic that made sweet peas a favorite flower in the first place!

Moreover, old plants have the added value of history. They have stories, association, points of origin, and emotions associated with them that are completely separate from their physical characteristics but equally treasured. We know that the Louis Phillippe rose was brought to Texas by Francisco de Zavala when he was ambassador to France from the Republic of Texas. Now, Louis Philippe is a fine little red rose, but having that story, knowing it was in the garden when Sam Houston came to tea, makes it an amazing and wonderful little red rose.

There are historical stories that add to the plant’s interest and there are personal stories. Many people remember their parent’s or grandparent’s gardens fondly. A whiff of gardenia can take them back to the glorious and happy days of youth. The sight of four o’clocks bursting into bloom will recall time spent with a loved one who has passed on. Keeping a plant going can be a way of keep memories alive and honoring the person with whom you associate the plant.

I have a rose that grew on the trellis outside my mother’s back door. It is a small pink flower that blooms only in the spring, but when it does bloom it puts on quite a show. The whole big climbing bush is covered with clusters of wonderful little flowers. It is a nice rose, a tough rose, a sweet rose, but the reason I grow it is because it grew on the trellis at my mother’s back door. She is gone, even the trellis and rose and house are gone because of a fire a few years ago, but they all come back to me every spring when the rose comes into bloom.

I’ve passed the rose down to my daughter who grows it near her front door. We all call it different names. I was told that its real name is Taussendshon, but I call it Mother’s rose and my husband calls it Your Mother’s rose and Sarah and Jenny call it Collie’s rose. We know its origins and treasure it because of them. The same is true of many plants in many gardens. I have iris given to me by a neighbor, bulbs from an old lady down the road, daisies from a friend in another town, and on and on. Plants are living reminders of friends and family and are treasured as such. It is the treasuring and passing along that makes them heirlooms. A lace tablecloth is just a tablecloth until someone loves it and takes care of it and hands it down to a cherished child, who does the same, generation after generation. The same is true of plants. A plant is just a plant until it passes through the hands of generations of gardeners who value it. Then it becomes an heirloom.

The terms “antique” and “heirloom” are imprecise at best. Antiques were first said to be at least 50 years old, but the definition is flexible. Heirlooms are even less rigidly defined. It is not necessary to set firm definitions in order to favor and enjoy old plants. We have an intuitive understanding of what we mean when we say heirloom and antique and we know those are the kinds of plants we want in our garden — perhaps not exclusively, but certainly we want some heirlooms there to give the garden a certain amount of dignity!